Distillate-chilling apparatus



March 17, 1931. H. TORRANCE DISTILLATE CHILLING APPARATUS Filed June 16, 1927 UNITED. STATES- PATENT OFFICE HENRY TORRANCE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGN OR TO THE CARBONIDALE MACHINE CO., OF GARBONDALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA DISTILLATE-CHILLING APPARATUS Application filed J'une 16,- 1927, Serial No. 199,287.

This invention relates to chilling apparatus adapted for the treatment of liquids to efl'ect the. congelation, or separation therefrom of solid constituents, for instance the chilling of distillate to separate paraffin, waxes, or the like. Such Chilling is most effectively secured by delivering the liquid and a chilling agent, such as brine, through the separate zigzag concentric passages of a counter-current heat interchanger. The paraflinor other solid matter separates out and tends i to collect on the walls of'the passage. This necessitates the provision of means for positively forcing the solids along the passagesto prevent cloggin of the apparatus.

-Apparatus of t is type which has been in use for many years is shown in the Hatton Patent 735,873, dated August 11th,1903,- and the Hiller Patent 922,898, issued May 25th,'1909. The helical conveyor shown in said patents serves to aid the flow of the distillate, scrape oil the solid matter congealing .on the walls, and advance said solid matter along the passage.

. One ob]ection. to apparatus of this type has been the low capacity. The inner conduit for the distillate must be large to accommodate'the screw conveyor, but the conveyor itself prevents the rapid flow of the distillate. To increase the capacity by making the cons duit still larger. introduces other difficulties arising from the weight of the parts, the wear in the bearing, and the need for larger cooling passages with the lower rate of cooling of the liquid near the shaft of the conveyor. Speeding up the rate of rotation of the conveyor beyond that for which it was designed is not practical.

By means of the present invention the capacity is increased'without increase in the size of any of the parts; a high rate of flow of distillate is secured for a given size of passages, and therefore a larger quantity of distillate maybe treated in a given time .with' the same size of apparatus and with a better, quicker, andimore effective heat transfer; the distillate is brought into more intimate contact with the cooling walls; the conveyor is lighter in weight and therefore less likely to sag between its ends; less power is required 2-2 of Fig. 1.

In the construction illustrated there are provided a plurality of pairs of concentric pipes, the inner pipe 10 serving to conduct the distillate or other liquid to be cooled and the outer pipe serving to conduct the cooling medium. The outer pipes 11 are secured to the headers 12 which connect the pipes together in series. The inner pipes project through stuifing boxes in these headers and have terminal flanges 13 to which are secured ill headers 14 which connect the inner pipes together in series. The headers at the ends of the series are adapted for the connection of the conduits for receiving and delivering the cooling agent and for receiving and delivering the liquid to be cooled. The cooling agent flows in one direction through the series of outer pipes and headers 12, while the distillate flows in the opposite direction through the inner pipes and the headers 14. The headers 14 are provided with removable end'walls 15 which have bearings for the shaft 16 of the conveyor which is mounted in each inner pipe 10 and extends into the headers 14 at the ends thereof. The shafts may be rotated in any suitable manner, as for in stance by a chainengaging sprocket wheels a As an important feature of the present invention the shaft 16 carries a helical conveyor 4 ternal diameter that it engages or substantially engages the inner surface of the pipe 10 to act as a scraper and the blade is of such width that it acts to advance along the pipe the material which is scraped off and collects alongthe lower side of the passage. The blade is spaced from the sleeve to such distance as leaves a substantially free and uninterrupted passage along the sleeve and between the latter and the inner circumference of the conveyor blade.

In this improved construction the liquid to be cooled may be forced at comparatively high speed through the inner pipes 10 and the connecting headers, so that the rate of travel of the liquid is far greater than it would be if the blades were solid and the liquid were advanced solely by the blades or was caused to flow around the shaft in a helical direction. Eddy currents are produced in the stream of liquid as it passes the several turns of the blade, and thus between the blades the liquid is circulated against the cooling surface. These eddy currents cause all portions of the liquid to be uniformly cooled more effectively than is the case where a solid blade conveyor is used. Theconveyor is very much lighter than a solid blade conveyor as the narrow ribbon is supported only at spaced points by the arms instead of continuously along its length. The blade serves not only to cause the eddy currents above referred to, but it advances the solid matter along the pipe without interfering with the rapid flow of the liquid along the center.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent is ,1. An apparatus for chilling liquids to separate solids therefrom, including a zigzag conduit having straight pipe sections and connecting headers in series for the liquid to be chilled, the cross-sectional area of said headers and the inlet and outlet of said conduit being of approximately the effective cross-sectional area of the straight sections to permit large volume flow of liquid'through said conduit, a zigzag conduit having pipe section s encircling. the first mentioned pipe sections, and headers connectin the second mentioned pipe sections in series for conveying the cooling medium in counter-current inlet and outlet of said pipes being of approximately the same size as the effective cross-sectional area of said pipes, whereby large volume flow therethlzough is permitted, helical ribbonconveyors within said pipes and extending into said headers, each ribbon conveyor including a narrow helical blade and a central shaft spaced apart to leave an annular passage along the shaft whereby liquid may be delivered through the pipes at said passages and the inlet and outlet of said pipes being of approximately the same size as the efiective cross-sectional area of said pipes, whereby large volume flow therethrough is permitted, helical ribbon convey ors within said pipes, each ribbon conveyor including a narrow helical blade and a central shaft spaced apart to leave an annular passage along the shaft whereby liquid may be delivered through the pipes at higher speed than the rate of advancement effected by the rotation of the conveyors, outer pipes encircling said first mentioned pipes, and headers connecting said outer pipesfor conveying cooling medium counter-current to the flow ofliquid to be cooled.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York this 10th day of June, A. D. 1927.

HENRY TORR-ANCE.

flow to that-,of the liquid to be chilled, and a conveyor in each of said inner pipe sections, said conveyor including a central shaft and a helical ribbon blade secured to but spaced from the shaft and serving to scrape solid matter'from the wall of the pipe section and advance it along the latter, the spacing of the blade from the shaft permitting a rapid filow i of liquid along the shaft, and the blade causing eddy currents of said liquid between successive turns of the blade.

2. An apparatus for chilling liquids to separate solid matter therefrom, including a plurality of pipes for the flow of the liquid. to

be cooled, headers connecting them and hav- J ing passages for the flow of the liquid from one pipe to the next, said passages and the 

